


A Hug That Lasted A Night

by giors1



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Late Night Conversations, One Shot, Rain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-19
Updated: 2014-11-19
Packaged: 2018-02-26 07:36:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2643542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giors1/pseuds/giors1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's at night when Regina Mills realizes that danger can become freedom, and she can simply stop fighting; that's the perfect moment, when confusion fades away and it almost feels good to believe in someone unexpectedly knocking at her door.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Hug That Lasted A Night

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> –
> 
> “Because your question searches for deep meaning,  
> I shall explain in simple words” 
> 
> Dante Alighieri, Inferno

When she heard a knock at her door, she thought she had imagined it, or maybe it was just a dream.  
She was still wearing her white shirt, the same she used to have when she was a mayor, during one of those days where documents, signatures and secretaries going in and out of her office were all she had. All she needed.

Another knock.  
It wasn't a dream.

That morning, she wore that shirt for no particular reason, places to go or people to meet. She wore it for what it had represented, once.

She gave a look at her watch, 2.49 am.  
She gave a look at her clothes, too many wrinkles and too little time to think or change, on her way towards the door. Automatic response, no curiosity whatsoever.

She missed those times where a perfectly ironed shirt could've fixed everything.

Another knock. And several after it, covering the noise of Regina's bare feet on the floor. When she reached the door, she found almost surprising the compete lack of curiosity towards who was waiting at her door. Knocking repeatedly, but without saying a single word.

No matter who it was, Regina Mills had no intentions of giving them the slightest sign of an answer; just a quick look through the closest window and then she would've been ready to go back to her sofa, to her dark living room, to that unfinished glass of pinot. That was her plan.

Knock. It even sounded less insistent. Almost.

The first thing Regina saw was a cascade of blonde curls, but it was the fear in the eyes of the person who was knocking which caught Regina's attention.

Emma Swan.

Regina could distinctly feel that the woman was still trying to find enough strength to knock again; that view shocked her.

The rain had already covered every inch of Emma's clothes, but tears falling from her eyes were paradoxically so evident; a small detail, yet so overwhelming in its refusal to mix up with rain. She looked exhausted and cold.

Regina thought about her initial intention of not opening the door, like she had already done a million times during her voluntary exile in her own house.  
But those tears. They were unexpected, even if Regina realized she might have finally found that they were actually their first thing in common between her and the other woman waiting outside. 

Tears. No one should never get used to them.

The surprise in Emma's eyes was huge, in front of Regina Mills finally opening the big white door. The brunette couldn't say a word, she was still too confused by the lack of sleep, or by Emma's tears, or by her own hand, automatically wandering through the dark to find the key and opening the door. Her hand, non responding to a well trained brain.

“You?”

She wasn't good with comforting words, nonetheless with hugs; normally Regina would've simply posed questions, showing a royal sense of annoyance, or she would've pointed out the insolence of that intrusion. But Emma entered the house and just fell in Regina's arms. She hugged tightly, ignoring that Regina's arms were unable to do the same.  
Regina felt awkward, with that hug and all those questions in her mind and not even a bit of strength to voice them.

“I don't know how to...” Emma just wiped the tears away from her own eyes, while trying to formulate a sentence.

“Neither do I”. Whatever Emma was talking about, no, Regina hadn't the answer to anything.

Emma gently caressed Regina's cheek, but Regina couldn't even close her eyes, too afraid of loosing contact with reality. Or maybe just a second of that meeting.

When Emma kissed her, it was like a grenade exploding inside her head, destroying every question, every logic, every wrinkle. Regina expected the bitter taste of alcohol, or maybe that pungent flavor only a cigarette smoked while crying can have, but Emma had just frantic, wet lips and desperation to offer. 

Emma stopped the kiss just to silently cry again, letting another tear fall; trying to hide her face, she gently laid her head on Regina's shoulder, but surprisingly found, just a second after, a hand caressing her damp hair.

There was no place for questions, or complains for the late hour or for the the rain invading Regina's floor and shirt. It was ok, whatever that was. Impossible to believe, with Emma so close, clung to her like she was the only thing that could sustain her in the whole world.

Regina closed the door and, without losing contact with her guest, she helped her walking towards the sofa in the living room.

When they sat, Emma was still crying, probably, even if those incessant tears were framing an almost imperturbable face; Regina decided to respect the sheriff's desire to remain silent, until unexpected hiccups started to fill the silence of the room. Well, nothing new for those walls, after all. 

It took almost one hour for Regina to hear another word, even if she couldn't really focus on it since Emma's lips were again confusingly caressing hers. Another kiss. Another huge amount of questions and doubts. Emma's tears had become hers, right after their cheeks touched.

“You”

Emma's perfume, Emma's forehead against hers.

The kiss got deeper, while their hands started to fight against their minds about how to resist, how to avoid touching unexplored skin, how to establish that everything would've probably been a mistake.

“You...”

That word never left the mansion.

Soon, there was no more distance, no more short words. No more tears.  
Kisses started to be an unexpected comfort, both for the woman who couldn't remember the time when she was a villain and for the sheriff who didn't know how she became a savior.

“Not like this. Not yet”. Whatever it meant, Regina agreed with Emma, again.

The fear left space to a more comforting sense of surrender, to the final stop in front of time passing by and leaving scars, to that dark night embracing unplanned reactions. They just spent the night there, sharing that sofa and getting to know each other without using words or questions.  
Finger intertwined, damp clothes and red eyes.

A hug that lasted a night. 

It was 5.24 am when Emma left the sofa and silently walked towards the door; Regina followed her only with her gaze. When the blonde suddenly stopped and got back to the spot where Regina had remained motionless, it was because of another kiss the blonde wanted to offer. A chaste kiss, an intimate way to thank her, with Regina just trying to pretend that that wasn't exactly what she needed.  
Having Emma so close again allowed her to notice that it was her strange companion for that night who was now wearing her white shirt. Her wrinkled white shirt.

“You”, said Emma again, before leaving the mansion.

Illogically, without even knowing what or why a night like that could have happened to her, Regina's lips curved; for the first time in years, she started her day with a smile.


End file.
